“Green-run Councils and Green Party councillors will be appalled by this centralisation of power. This Labour Government likes to talk about ‘devolution’ but this is just the latest and most shocking demonstration that their real agenda is not handing power down, but taking it away from local communities and local councils.
“Our residents do not want to see planning put it in the hands of regional mayors, who are out of touch with and not directly accountable to local communities. Increasingly, developments will be signed off by officers under national rules, eroding local democracy and leaving fewer decisions to be made in public. This is the very opposite of devolution.”
This direct command could be heard this weekend on the live broadcast of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar street race orchestrated by President Donald Trump’s administration as part of its MAGA-branded commemoration of the nation’s historic anniversary. The entire three-hour debacle was live-broadcast on Fox, alongside footage of Trump and First Lady Melania Trump as they basked in the front-row presidential suite.
At one point, the presidential couple engaged in heated conversation—possibly regarding, some speculated (Mercury News, 8/24/26), the presence of Trump’s personal assistant Natalie Harp, with whom he has an unusually close relationship. As this discussion transpired, a terse command to the camera operator could be heard: “I need the cameras off the president right now. Cameras off the president right now. Turn the cameras.”
A camera operator replied, “We’re the pool with President Trump for the entire network—Fox, CNN, CBS, ABC.”
The response was unyielding: “I understand that. We’ve asked you to turn the cameras off of the presidential suite.”
Raw Story (8/24/26) noted that video appeared to show Melania Trump “leave her husband’s side after spotting Natalie Harp, Trump’s 35-year-old female aide who’s been referred to as the president’s ‘human binky‘ for her unusually close relationship with the commander in chief.”
The command—from a staffer wearing an IndyCar uniform—was an astonishing call for press censorship on behalf of Trump, not to mention a direct violation of the First Amendment freedom of press.
As Brendan Keefe, an award-winning investigative reporter for Atlanta News First, posted on X (8/23/26):
You can tell us where we can be. You cannot tell us what to film. “Cameras off” is an unlawful order from government, especially when recording an elected official…. The First Amendment allows the press to record in any place they’re allowed to be present.
Even more surprising, however, is that none of the major outlets—including the outlets for which the camera person was working—have acknowledged this blatant assault on the freedom of the press. Coverage of the Grand Prix from networks Fox, CBS and ABC operated as usual, highlighting race victories and logistics. CNN correspondent Brian Todd (8/23/26) reported that the race was “a real success.”
Only independent outlets, such as Atlanta Black Star, Raw Story and Crooks & Liars, or overseas-based publications like the British-based Mirror or Spanish sports outlet Diario AS, have published pieces highlighting the infringement. So why have establishment media stayed silent?
One explanation is a realistic fear of government retaliation. After the FCC’s failed efforts last year to cancel ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! for critical comments about Charlie Kirk—a move that was disparaged even by conservatives—the organization mounted a retaliatory campaign, slapping ABC with an unprecedented and mandatory years-early license renewal review. The ordeal has since snowballed into a full-blown lawsuit against the FCC from ABC’s parent company Disney.
But the media have an obligation to act as watchdogs, to report on those in power and keep the public informed on wrongdoing and corruption. Corporate media have billions of dollars at their disposal, and have more resources than any other media format to stand up to the administration. When corporate media are collectively silent about violations of their press freedoms, ordinary people can hardly rely on them to stand up for the rest of us.
Featured image: Donald and Melania Trump caught on video at the Freedom 500 Grand Prix.
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Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
A study published August 27, 2026 in the journal Science concludes that fossil fuel-driven global warming has intensified the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Julia Cole/Science)
“We are seeing a trend of stronger El Niños, and the one we have now is consistent with that trend,” said the lead author. “That is bad news for climate hazards and for people.”
As the flooding disaster in Tibet and Nepaldemonstrates the deadly consequences of the climate emergency, experts wrote Thursday in the journal Science that fossil fuel-driven global heating has intensified the warm phase of a key pattern in the Pacific Ocean.
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has a warm phase, called El Niño, as well as a neutral phase and a cold one, La Niña. In June, scientists declared the start of a warm event nicknamed “Godzilla,” which helped push last month’s average global ocean surface temperature to the hottest ever recorded in July.
The current event is expected to become not only a super El Niño, but the most intense one on record—and it could contribute to 2027 possibly being the hottest year humanity has ever endured.
While ENSO is a naturally occurring phenomenon, the scientists behind the new paper studied coral skeletons from the Galápagos Islands and concluded that global warming—tied to humans continuing to burn fossil fuels—has intensified El Niño phases.
“Our findings suggest El Niño can supercharge global warming, but also global warming can supercharge El Niño—that is what we are seeing,” said lead author Julia Cole, who chairs the University of Michigan’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
The scientist also spoke with Inside Climate News, which noted that “the first documented super El Niño in 1982-83 killed about 95% of the shallow-water corals around the Galápagos Islands, right around the time Cole began her research career.”
Based on the team’s analysis, “after the El Niño in 1982, we start seeing much more variability; it’s a lot more extreme and looks like nothing in the previous 1,000 years,” Cole told The Guardian. “What surprised me was how consistent it was. There is just such a large, distinct difference between what has been happening in the last 40 years compared to preindustrial times.”
As Inside Climate News reported:
When Cole visited the islands in 1989, many of the large mapped corals that could have served as sample material were gone, wiped out by the El Niño early in the decade and then decomposed quickly by organisms in the biologically active waters. But in 2006, her team discovered fossil coral remnants, often perched as boulders near remote east-facing coastlines, tossed inland by large waves or tsunamis.
Cole said the signal of El Niños intensified by human-caused warming would have been even stronger if the study had included the most recent occurrences. All the events categorized as super El Niños have occurred since the 1980s and have triggered flooding in East Africa, led to disease outbreaks, and intensified tropical storms. This year’s El Niño is intensifying drought in Indonesia, fueling widespread fires that are sending smoke and hazardous air pollution across Southeast Asia, Cole said. Her team is currently analyzing corals to show the changes from the El Niños in 2015-16 and 2023-24, she added.
“We are seeing a trend of stronger El Niños, and the one we have now is consistent with that trend—it’s not a fluke. We are seeing a shift where El Niño doesn’t look like what it did prior to industrial times,” Cole said. “That is bad news for climate hazards and for people, particularly those who are badly impacted and yet have done little to cause climate change.”
According to the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, consequences of El Niño include “increased rainfall across the southern tier of the US and in Peru, which has caused destructive flooding, and drought in the West Pacific, sometimes associated with devastating brush fires in Australia.”
Dalhousie University marine scientist Boris Worm wasn’t involved with the new study but told The Associated Press on Thursday that “El Niño is the most violent aspect of climate variability worldwide, with effects ranging from local fisheries collapse, to widespread coral die-offs to severe droughts, and food shortages around the world.”
Experts are already worried about the latest El Niño’s impact on food security and prices, with the United Nations World Food Program projecting earlier this month that almost 50 million more people worldwide face the prospect of acute hunger.
Pointing to late climate scientist Wallace Broecker’s warning that “the climate system is an angry beast and we are poking it with sticks,” Worm said that “human emissions are the stick, and El Niño is [one] of the ‘angry’ outbursts that can be so threatening to our collective safety.”
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
A person holds signs during a nationwide protest against AI data center expansion outside Peace Hall in New Port Richey, Florida on July 18, 2026. (Photo by Thomas Simonetti / AFP via Getty Images)
“It seems that this industry, in particular, values speed to market more than almost anything else.”
A joint investigative report published by Floodlight and The Guardian on Thursday revealed that one of the largest planned artificial intelligence data centers on the East Coast is operating dozens of gas-powered generators without permits in a possible violation of federal law.
Using a thermal drone to take footage of the Microsoft-backed DataOne facility in Vineland, New Jersey last week, Floodlight determined that the data center was operating 45 generators at once.
The investigation noted that the generators were operating roughly one mile from two different schools, and that the gas-powered generators used as the facility “emit substantial amounts of health-harming air pollution linked to asthma, heart attacks, and even premature death.”
Bruce Buckheit, who previously served as air enforcement chief at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told Floodlight that DataOne is likely violating federal law with its unpermitted generators, and he said the government should make the facility pay a fine for “illegal emissions.”
Buckheit added that DataOne’s apparent disregard for regulations appeared to be a common trait in the AI industry.
“It seems that this industry, in particular, values speed to market more than almost anything else,” he said.
A New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson told Floodlight that the agency is investigating DataOne’s use of gas generators but has yet to reach “a full compliance determination.”
Local residents told Floodlight that they have for months complained about the nonstop humming produced by the facility, which they suspect is being caused by the generators.
“It’s just constant,” resident Andrew Groetsch told Floodlight of the noise coming from the facility. “It never goes away.”
DataOne, which is projected to cover 2.5 million square feet upon its completion, has long been controversial.
In an interview with NBC Philadelphia published earlier this month, Vineland resident Peggy Schumacher said that the noise from the data center has gotten so bad that it’s making her neighborhood “unlivable.”
“We are a mile away,” Schumacher explained, “and the vibration in our house is horrible now.”
Fellow Vineland resident Tallis West offered a similar description of living near DataOne in an interview with CBS News published in May.
“Outside is not even enjoyable to sit outside because of the noise sometimes,” West said. “We can’t enjoy being outside anymore.”
Despite the objections of many local residents, the Vineland Planning Board earlier this month voted to approve the second phase of construction at the facility.
The tech industry’s rapid buildout of AI data centers is getting major pushback from voters across the US, as residents issue complaints about both pollution and energy consumption that has been raising their utility bills.
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
A voter places their ballot in a mailbox in Everett, Washington on July 30, 2020. (Photo by Cindy Shebley/flickr/cc)
“These mail-in ballot restrictions threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who rely on mail voting to participate in our democracy,” said one advocate.
A day after a federal judge lifted her injunction on President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in ballots, a quartet of civil rights groups on Thursday filed fresh claims in their lawsuit challenging the administration’s weaponization of the US Postal Service to attack the right to vote under the pretense of fighting nearly nonexistent fraud.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, NAACP, Common Cause, and Black Voters Matter Fund argued in the US District Court for the District of Columbia that Trump’s March 31 executive order unlawfully attempts to federalize important parts of election administration—especially voter eligibility verification and mail-ballot delivery—by presidential fiat, without authorization from Congress, while creating serious risks of disenfranchisement and misuse of personal data.
The plaintiffs—and many legal experts—argue that the US Constitution gives the states and Congress the authority to regulate federal elections, not the president.
“Our democracy is under attack,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said Thursday in a statement. “No federal entity should be allowed to implement last-minute rules that disenfranchise voters and override state election laws.”
“This new USPS rule is a direct assault on the fundamental freedoms of millions of Americans—particularly Black voters, communities of color, seniors, military members, and rural residents—just weeks before a critical election,” Johnson added, referring to November’s pmidterms. “We will not stand idly by while the voices of the people are silenced. We must protect every eligible citizen’s right to cast their ballot.”
Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, warned that “these mail-in ballot restrictions threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who rely on mail voting to participate in our democracy while balancing work, caregiving responsibilities, disabilities, and other realities of daily life.”
“The Trump administration is trying to limit access to the ballot, sow confusion at the polls, and to use the ensuing chaos as an excuse to exert power over agencies and processes in a politicized way,” Hewitt added. “We will not let this or any administration further undermine our democratic process. We will fight to ensure our elections are free and fair, and that eligible voters are not shut out—especially Black voters and other voters of color, who are frequently targeted by voter suppression schemes.”
Several courts had ruled against Trump’s order. But this week, the US Supreme Courtcleared the way for the administration to proceed with its plans, and on Wednesday US District Judge Indira Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, was compelled to lift her injunction on the executive order as a result of the high court’s decision.
Also on Wednesday, the groups behind the case before Talwani moved to block the Postal Service rule, as did a coalition of two dozen Democratic state attorneys general, whose initial challenge had resulted in the ruling from the Supreme Court—which found that the AGs filed their first suit prematurely.
Republicans including Trump—who has repeatedly voted by mail—have used fearmongering and disinformation to push the nearly nonexistent “threat” of voter fraud, especially in regard to mailed ballots, and noncitizens voting in US elections.
“Mail-in voting is so safe that even the president has used it twice this year,” Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said on Thursday. “The Postal Service exists to deliver our mail, not to be weaponized by this administration to silence voters. Common Cause will keep fighting to protect a democracy where people choose their leaders—not the other way around.”
Trump’s March order is part of a broader attack on voting rights that includes pushing an updated version of Republicans’ so-called SAVE America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship and strict photo ID requirements to register to vote in federal elections. The legislation, which was passed by the House of Representatives in February, is stalled in the narrowly split Senate, where it lacks the support of 60 lawmakers needed to avoid a Democrat filibuster.
“Mail-in voting gives people the freedom and flexibility to participate in our democracy, and we should be honest about what these efforts to restrict it are really doing: creating barriers to the ballot under the guise of election security,” Black Voters Matter Fund co-founders Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown said in a joint statement Thursday. “We are not fooled. This is the same old playbook—manufacture confusion, create unnecessary hurdles, and chip away at voting access.”
“When the same politicians who defend their own access to mail-in voting move to restrict that access for others, the hypocrisy is hard to ignore,” Albright and Brown continued. “We cannot allow voter suppression to be repackaged as voter protection or allow political interference to determine who gets to participate and whose voice counts.”
“This is not about making democracy more secure; it is about reshaping who can fully participate in it,” they added. “We will continue to call these efforts what they are and fight for every eligible voter’s freedom to make their voice heard.”
Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
